Q&A with Steve Berkman, Author of ‘The God of Lending’

This week the Loudoun Writers column features Steve Berkman, author of The World Bank and the Gods of Lending, which offers an inside view of the bank where its money goes.

Q. When did you first begin to write and what motivated you to do so? 

While working at the World Bank in the mid-1980’s, I began writing about corruption on Bank funded projects in sub-Saharan Africa and continued with published articles and finally with a book in 2008.  Disgust with the lack of concern by the Bank’s management, their obsession with lending to corrupt governments, and the failures of foreign aid in general, motivated me to expose the inner workings of the donor community.

Q. Describe the type of books you publish and why? 

My writing has focused entirely upon fraud and corruption in foreign aid and economic development in the third world based upon my experiences with the World Bank. 

Q. When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? 

There was never a particular moment when I decided to write.  It just seemed to evolve as I attempted to communicate my concerns to wider audiences.

Q. How long did it take you to have your first submission published from the time you started writing?

I had pretty much completed my first draft manuscript before seeking a publisher.  It then took about two years before final publication.

Q. What is the first book you remember reading?

White Fang by Jack London

Q. What is the most recent book you have read?

The World’s Banker by Sebastian Mallaby

Q. Are you currently writing a book now and if so can you describe it?

My memoirs. Growing up in the 1930’s and 1940’s. Leaving home at 15 and following a very varied career that ended with the World Bank in 2002. This is for my grandchildren and is mostly about the funny things that happened along the way.

Q. Who are your favorite fiction or non-fiction authors?

Bob Woodward, Upton Sinclair, Joseph Conrad

FEATURED BOOK:
The World Bank and the Gods of Lending
Non-Fiction, soft cover, 275 pages
Kumarian Press
$24.95

The Gods of Lending exposes the myths surrounding the World Bank and its mission to alleviate poverty in under developed countries. Describing endless changes of institutional direction that make it impossible to hold management accountable for failure, the reader is provided with an inside view of how the Bank moves money and how things get screwed up along the way. Fiduciary responsibility is ignored as management pushes money out the door into the coffers of corrupt and dysfunctional governments.

Drawing upon his experiences in Africa, the author demonstrates how corruption permeates the Bank’s lending portfolio with real life examples that show the disconnect between what the Bank says it is doing, and what is actually happening on the ground. Billions of dollars provided to governments run by corrupt elites whose only agenda is to remain in power and enrich themselves at the expense of the poor. In discussing this phenomenon, the author exposes numerous scams perpetrated by project officials in Africa and provides convincing evidence to conclude that several million dollars are being stolen from Bank funds each day worldwide.

The author sees the Bank as becoming increasingly infatuated with the accumulation of knowledge at the expense of due diligence. As a result considerable Bank resources have been diverted away from supervision of its lending operations which are, its raison d’etre. In effect, the Bank has become a university/think tank, producing thousands of documents each year that rarely translate into meaningful results in the field. The author proposes that these activities can be more effectively done by academia so that the Bank can return to the business of ensuring transparent and successful development. Painting a picture of an institution that is run by a bloated bureaucracy, the author proposes changes that will return the Bank to its core mission of alleviating poverty.

Berkman’s bio:
Leaving home at 15, Steve Berkman followed a varied career. He worked for the U.S. forest Service in the northwest, sailed on Scandinavian merchant ships, worked at a cobalt mine, and on a cattle ranch. He also held numerous jobs in the construction and machine trades. These later experiences led to his becoming a technical education instructor at the high school level.

In later years, he was employed as a training manager on petrochemical projects in North Africa and the Middle East. In 1983, he joined the World Bank’s Africa Region Group as a training advisor. Providing advice and assistance with capacity building and institutional development issues on Bank funded projects, he worked in all the major economic sectors throughout the continent.

Soon realizing that the Bank’s lending program was exposed to high risk from corruption, his attempts to convince management of the extent of the problem were given little credence until the arrival of President James Wolfensohn in 1995. Retiring in that same year, he was called back from 1998 to 2002 to assist with the establishment of an Anti-Corruption and Fraud Investigation Unit during which time he was lead investigator on a number of corruption cases in Africa and Latin America.

He has given presentations at various international anti-corruption forums, US and foreign government agencies, and universities. He also provided assistance to the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations for the enactment of legislation to reform the multi-lateral development banks and Senate passage of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption.

He is the author of The World Bank and the Gods of Lending that exposes failures of the Bank’s management, its lending operations and the theft billions of dollars from its portfolio.